It hasn’t taken long for Valentina Shevchenko to claim to establish herself as the best fighter in the women’s flyweight division. She established that standing in two fights. The first was her decision victory over Joanna Jedrzejczyk to claim the vacant UFC women’s 125-pound title. The second was her destructive head kick knockout of Jessica Eye in her first defense of that belt.
Shevchenko puts that title on the line for a second time on Saturday when she meets Liz Carmouche in the main event of UFC Fight Night 165.
Some betting sites had Shevchenko listed close to a 17-1 favorite over Eye. She’s not as much of a favorite over Carmouche, but she’s also not that far off, coming in at a 14-1 the day before the two meet in Uruguay on an ESPN+ streamed fight card.
Shevchenko is so far ahead of the rest of the division that we’re openly wondering if a rematch with two-division champion Amanda Nunes is the only fight that makes sense for the 17-3 competitor. After all, two of her losses were to Nunes. Both of these setbacks came via decision.
The thing about Shevchenko’s three losses is that the third one, which was the first of Shevchenko’s MMA career, was to Carmouche. The former UFC and Strikeforce title challenger defeated Shevchenko by doctor stoppage TKO in 2010 under the C3 Fights banner.
Carmouche failed in her first two shots at MMA gold. In 2011, Marloes Coenen submitted her in the fourth round of their battle for the Strikeforce title. In 2013, in the first women’s fight in UFC history, Ronda Rousey submitted Carmouche in the first round.
Carmouche is 5-4 in the UFC. She is 2-1 since moving down to flyweight in 2017.
Carmouche has a massive task in front of her at UFC Fight Night 156. If she can unseat the champion, it’ll be one of the biggest upsets in UFC title fight history. If she fails, expect fans and media to focus on the trilogy fight with Nunes or a matchup against strawweight champion Jessica Andrade.
Pick: Shevchenko
UFC Fight Night 156 takes place Saturday, August 10 at Antel Arena in Montevideo, Uruguay. The entire fight card streams on ESPN+.
More from this series:
UFC Fight Night 156 Preview And Picks: Is Marina Rodriguez A Fighter To Watch In the Women’s Strawweight Division?
UFC Fight Night 156 Preview And Picks: Two Heavyweight Finishers Debut In Uruguay
UFC Fight Night 156 Preview And Picks: Don’t Miss The UFC Debut Of Jiu-Jitsu World Champ Rodolfo Vieira
UFC Fight Night 156 Preview And Picks: Light Heavyweights Battle For Relevance in Uruguay
UFC Fight Night 156 Preview And Picks: Can Vicente Luque Earn Some Respect?
